Abstract
Perfluorocompounds ($PFC_s$), such as tetrafluoromethane ($CF_4$) and hexafluoroethane ($C_2F_6$), have been widely used as plasma etching and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) gases for semiconductor manufacturing processes. Since these $PFC_s$ are known to cause a greenhouse effect intensively, there has been a growing interest in reducing $PFC_s$ emissions. Among various $CF_4$ decomposing techniques, a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) is considered as one of a promising candidate because it has been successfully used for generating ozone ($O_3$) and decomposing nitrogen oxide (NO). Firstly, optimal concentration of oxygen for $CF_4$ decomposition was found to figure out how many primary and secondary reactions are associated with DBD process. Secondary, to find effective discharge method for $CF_4$ decomposition, a streamer and a glow mode in DBD are experimentally compared, which includes (i) coaxialcylinder DBD, (ii) DBD reactor packed with glass beads. and (iii) a glow mode operation with a helium gas. The test results showed that optimal concentration of oxygen was ranged 500 ppm~1% for treating 500 ppm of $CF_4$ and helium glow discharge was the most efficient one to decompose $CF_4$.
